In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

· TH;E .ENGLISH PRESS IN THE NINETEENTH .CENTURY: AN ECONOMIC APPROACH H. A. INNIS THE rationalism' of th·e eighteenth· century shed irs light on the literature of the ~arly part o( the nineteenth century. In rhe second half of the century with the work of Darwin and Spencer chat light bega·n to grow· dim . In the twentieth century we have seen the growth. of irrationalism reflec.ted ' in the int~rest in psychology1 advertising, mass prop·aganda, totalitarian states and war. Mass propaganda of rhe Angl.o-Sa.xon world, - directeC. by such individ~als as Hearst and Northdiffe1 played an imporrant role in the defeat of Germany in the Jast war. 1ts eff~ctivenc:ss was appre_ ciaced by totalitarian states who rein.forced their instructio_ n with the assistance of such. new methods o( communication as the radio and the· cin_ema. The results were e'(ident not only i~ the tota.li'tarian states. Such phrases as "total war,'' "full employment," "anti-semitism/' and th.e uke.~ ' handied about in the democratic states are· a tribute to the influence of totalitarian prop~ganda, as are the innumerable me~ures which have been required to offset its effects ·and to bolster our morale. We have: passed from the security and optimism which characterized the belief j~ progress in the nineteenth. century to fear and p~ssimism and demands for se~urity. The nineteenth century was a period o( transition fro~ rationalism to irrationalism, and its literature reflects the character of the change. On the history of that transirinn ir is hoped that this. paper will thr~w some light. For the moment we shall say with Leslie Stephcn1 that philosophical thought and imaginative literature can have no history, being a by-product o( social evoluti()n) '1 the. noise that the wheels make as du:,Y go round)" and concentrate on technological developments affecting communication. I The Industrial Revolution had. profound implications for printing and literarure, in lowering the costs o( paper and introducing, st~am power to the press. In r799 Louis Robert at Es.sone in France desjgned a rnacnine to ma.lie a continuous sheet of paper ~n an endless wire cloth rurned on wheels, and a patent was taken ouc in England in ·1804 by the Fourdinier brothers, aft~r whom the machine was named. The length of time for the manu(ac.rurjng process was reduced from five weeks to five days1 and inventory charges wer~ lowered sharply. The enor-mous exp'ansion of demand for rags:> in Great Britain and the Uniced States and the export if.·W. Mn, 1906), 183. 1Ragc were import~d to the. cxunc of 7,061 tons in 1844, 10,140 tons in 1846,6,953 in 1849, and 8,124 in lBSO. · 37 38 THE UNIV£RSJTY OP TORONTO QUARTERLY restricti-ons in continental countries stimuJated a search for substitutes. Esparto grass was used in England in 18.57. The abolition of the duty in· 1861 brought "imports of fore)gn paper and the ·removal o( obstacles incidental to industrial -monopoJies which had grown up unde; the tariff; Chemical and mechanical pulp were used in the sixties and seventies) and by 1882 the shortage of paper could he said to be at an end. The total production of paper in the United Kingdom increased from 11 1347 tons in 1800, all of which was han·d-madeJ to 100)000 tons !n 1861, of which 96,385 tons was machine-made. After the removal of the duty !n that ye.arJ production increased 'to 651,650 tons in 1900} o£ which 647>764 tons were machine-made. Including imports, consumption by the end of the cen-tury reached over a million tons. Prices had declined roughly from Is. 6d. a pound at the beginning o( the century to as low as %'d. a pound_ in 1900. They had fallen to lOd. a pound in 1836, and 6~d. in 1859.i From 1861 they declined about two-thirds. The proportional cost o( paper in publications declined during the century from two.:thirds to _less than one-tenth. · · The use of steam power in the manufacture...

pdf

Share